Everton made a change for their meeting with Leicester City and it should worry Liverpool ahead of the Merseyside derby. No, Marco Silva is still there – this was a formation tweak.
Liverpool will expect to win no matter what Everton do. The Toffees are having a very poor season where nothing goes right for them, while the Reds sit unbeaten at the top of the league.
Really, this looks like a routine win for Jurgen Klopp’s team.
But Silva switched things against Leicester that appears to have worked. After all, the Foxes needed a VAR-assisted 94th-minute winner on Sunday.
In short, Everton moved to a back three. It seems to have tightened up their defence a bit – something they’re sorely needed since Jean-Philippe Gbamin’s injury.
Gbamin arrived as a £25m replacement for Idrissa Gueye in the summer but played just twice before the injury. Funnily enough, Everton have kept three clean-sheets in the Premier League this season. Two of those came in the games Gbamin played.
So Everton may not be as leaky as the back as Liverpool hope. But the other worry is that the Reds don’t play too well against a back three.
Sheffield United used one and Liverpool needed a big goalkeeper mistake to break through. Then Manchester United used one. Again, Liverpool struggled to score and needed an 85th-minute equaliser from Adam Lallana. That’s the only time the team as dropped points, of course.
Liverpool should still expect to win the Merseyside derby but this does complicate things. Everton may not be the sitting ducks they initially seemed.
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